Philpot lab publishes research in Neuron

In the journal Neuron, Ben Philpot, PhD, professor of cell biology and physiology, published his lab’s research analyzing the spatial determinants for UBE3A loss in the development of seizures and other hyperexcitability phenotypes in the brain

In the journal Neuron, Ben Philpot, PhD, professor of cell biology and physiology, published his lab’s research analyzing the spatial determinants for UBE3A loss in the development of seizures and other hyperexcitability phenotypes in the brain. Philpot’s team used novel mouse models to show that selective UBE3A loss from GABAergic brain circuits – comprising neurons that release the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA – led to the same kinds of seizure behaviors and electroencephalographic (EEG) abnormalities typically found in AS model mice, which lack UBE3A in all neurons.

Matt Judson, PhD, the study’s first author and a research associate in Philpot’s lab, said that the findings open the door for further investigations into the specific effects of UBE3A loss in other types of neurons.